The present invention is directed to a wheel lift head and more specifically to an adjustable J-shaped arm pivotally mounted thereon for engagement with a wheel of a vehicle.
The use of such wheel engaging lift devices is old and well known in the art. Most of the devices utilize a substantially T-shaped boom which is pivotally mounted on the rear end of a truck and provided with a pair of L-shaped arms pivotally mounted on the crossbar of the T-shaped boom for engagement with the wheels of a vehicle to be towed. Wheel engaging members may be hydraulically or manually operated and may be detachably mounted on the boom to facilitate the storage of the boom when not in use.
A typical example of a prior art wheel lift device is disclosed in the U.S. patent to Roberts et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,909). A T-shaped boom is extendible and retractable within a guide which is pivotally mounted on the truck and the crossbar of the T-shaped support is pivotally connected to the stem. The opposite ends of the crossbar are provided with an oversized sliding member which can be locked in place as needed to adjust the width of the crossbar. The tire engaging member is pivotally mounted on the end of each sliding member and locking means are provided for locking the tire support in the operative position or a storage position. An L-shaped tire brace is removably connected to the pivoted tire support and means are provided for locking the tire brace in an adjusted position for engaging different size tires.